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World’s Student Christian Federation. 
European Student Relief Series No. 3. 


“FACTS, PLEASE!” 


The following tabulation of facts concerning the needs of 
students in Austria, Germany, Hungary, and Poland has been com- 
piled from a large number of reports drawn up by University 
Organisations, University Professors, Student Organisations, 
Government Statistics, Relief Missions, and other sources. We 
hope to publish later, statistics about the needs of students in other 
lands of Central and Eastern Europe. 


A.—_STUDENT NEEDS IN AUSTRIA. 


1. Number of Colleges and Students. 


In Vienna—The University, with 10,355 students. 
The Technical College, with 5,000 students. 
The Commercial College, with 3,400 students. 
The Veterinary College, with 474 students. 
The Fine Arts College, with 256 students. 
The Agricultural College. 
The Conservatorium of Music. 
The Evangelical Theological Faculty. 
The Jewish Theological Faculty. 


In Innsbruck—The University. 


In Graz—The University. 
The Technical College. 


In Leoben—The Mining College. 
In Salzburg—The Roman Catholic Theological Faculty. 


Vienna University. 
Number of Students. 
Winter Session, 1919-20. 


Theological Faculty oe 141 

BPaw-rachiry @ er ... 3,502 including 20 women. 
Medical Faculty ... ane fy (ols ‘3 574 
Philosophy Faculty Re er COA “3 Ho2uT 7et 


10,355 





2 


Statistics regarding the Students. 


A. .Mother tongue. 











1918—1919. 
German Mi Be ae Be shee 
Czecho-Slovak ea B a5 105 
Polish 2 Fa sr 552 
Ukrainian Py Ss) ie 8 
Slovene ie Fie +3 sis 106 
Serbian and Croatian ... oy 168 
Italian Seg ii oe sf 116 
Roumanian ... se . ia 55 
Magyar ae pe bd nee 107 
Oihcrmitaccsums ph She by 867 
Shisha) 
B. Confession. 

Catholic a eo eh Ose 
Greek-Orthodox Ys ue 103 
Exvanugelicaimee: us ‘ ree 669 
Old Catholic ... tas “iy 13 
Judaism re ey lag eo AG850 
Other confessions oe : 95 
No confessions aie aC. is 88 
Total Vetoes 





Food Facts. 


Students as a rule feed at the Students’ Mensas or Kitchens. The 
University Mensa for Austrian Students feeds 4,000 students daily ; 
the dinner costs Kr. 4.50, the supper Kr. 3.20; many eat only one 
meal a day—the majority only two: large numbers can only afford 
a warm meal at the Mensa every 2 or 3 days, that meal an insufficient 
one at best. Apart from what the students can afford to buy at 
the Mensa, they are for the most part dependent on their small 
ration of bread (very bad bread, made of potato peelings, etc.) and 
a daily cup of black coffee. Miserable as is the provision the student 
gets through the Mensas, that provision is given him at less than 
half actual cost price. 


Housing Facts. 
Rise in Prices. 


1914 1920. 
Rent of Smali Room per month — Kre30.0 ere oo: 
Rent of Ordinary Room _... ae Kr. 60. Kr. 400-500. 


1. Heating in winter is impossible for the student: light he 
must provide himself. 

2. Many students are sleeping in lodging-houses, railway 
stations, bathrooms, etc. In the Commercial College the lavatories 
are locked one hour before closing time to prevent the students 
sleeping in them. 

3. Large numbers of students who live with their families are 
sharing one room and a kitchen with six or eight other people. 


3 


In order to cope with this lodging difficulty, several student 
organizations have founded hostels. In the University there are 
eight such. The largest is in a suburb of Vienna. It consists of a 
number of wooden houses, formerly a war hospital. These barracks 
have been divided into 130 small rooms, where 260 students live. 
Each student pays Kr. 90 monthly. The disadvantage of this home 
is its distance from the University, an hour’s walk. Students have 
neither time nor strength for this walk, and the tram fare Kr. 4.00 
is prohibitive. In winter these barracks cannot be heated because 
of the lack of coal. 


Health Facts. 


Tuberculosis and severe anemia are rampant amongst students. 
Out of 1,600 students applying to a student organisation, 240 were 
reported ill: of the 240, 144 were tuberculous. Students cannot 
afford medical assistance of any kind. A woman student, whose 
hands were covered with sores, could not get ointment for them, 
except by going without food. 


Clothing Facts. 
Rise in Prices. 


1914. At present. 
Suit i oe Kr. 60-70 ~=Kr. 3000-4000 
Shoes eee ae EEO > 1 20 ee GOO-L000 
White Shirt as Wy ea 3x 300-400 
Stockings .. ; + ei 59 160 - 200 
‘Woman’s Gnerimnee Ay O0=700 55 4000 
Hat Cig RS [Oo en 400 
Piece. of Soap ey: - £5 
Washing of Shirt ... ¥ 30 
Pair of Shoe ipacese.: 3 25 
Comb va ans fp 100 


Many men are still wearing uniforms, buttoned to the neck to 
conceal absence of shirts. Many women students are still wearing 
the clothes they had in 1914, and have bought nothing since. 


Women Student Budget. 


According to a Report drawn up by the Presidents of five 
Women Student Societies, March, 1920, the monthly expenditure of 
a women student in Vienna is :— 


Lodging... ist lOO 
Dinner and Supper (at a Student Mensa) eens a2. 0 
Tram Fares (to University and back once a day) ,, 60 
Breakfast, clothing repairs, books and University 

expenses 4 a rh ae. LOO 





500 





N.B.—1. In this budget new clothes are not allowed for; nor 
are Laundry, Baths, and Medical Attendance, or any other 
emergency. 


4 


2. The utmost a woman student can possibly earn by teaching 
or office work is Kr. 300 per month. 


3. All experts consider the budget drawn up by the women 
student representatives as the starvation minimum. 


General University Expenses. 


1914, 1920. 
Fees for each Class in University Kr.2.10 Kr. 16 per month 
EXtragiakcs =) a mea arc " 
One sheet of Drawing Paper ... pp, 48) ¢ 
Text-books, e.g. :— 
Claus-Grobbe- Zoology 1: yy eu 55 eOOMIE a 
Schumacher- Physiology a eis ; a4 Ones 
Hutvra-Merek-Pathology ... a4. \ sLOOOmemns: 
Hellauer— International Com- 
merce... se oe LT, 2 OO 


Self Help Facts. 


I. In considering what the Viennese students do to help them- 
selves, it must not be forgotten that manual labour is practically 
impossible for many because of their miserable physical condition due 
to under-nourishment; that a large number are disabled through the 
war; that many forms of work are closed to them, unless they belong 
to a particular political party, or can get admitted to the Trades 
Union concerned: the Trades Unions are opposed to admitting 
‘intellectuals ’’ to their ranks. 


The earning power of students is pitiably small. Teaching is 
their main resource :— 


In 1913, teaching 14 hours a day, at Kr. 3 per hour, a student 
could earn Kr. 118 per month, the amount of his then monthly 
budget. | 


In 1920, teaching 4 hours a day, at Kr. 5 per hour, a student 
earns Kr. 480 per month. His minimum monthly budget is at least 
Kr. 1,000, allowing for all expenses. He would have to’teach 10 
hours a day to have enough to live on: allowing for distances between 
lessons (he cannot go by tram at Kr. 4 a journey !), 4 hours a day 
is the utmost he can teach if he is to study at all!! 


II. In spite of all this, Viennese students are practically all 
earning, and earning to the utmost of their ability. Investigation 
shows that they are employed in the following ways :— 


Teachers and Tutors. Shoemakers. 
Demonstrators in Laboratories Workers in Film Factory. 
or Clinics. Film Actors. 
Stenographers and Typists. Lithographers. 
Clerks. Musicians in Cinematographs. 
Mechanics. * ,, Restaurants and 
Labourers in Metal-ware Cafés. 
Factories. Undergardeners. 
Woodcutters. Typesetters. 
Harvesters. Waiters. 
Casual Labourers. Schleich-handlers! Alas! 


Farm Labourers. 


5 


III. Students of the Vienna Colleges have formed a Co- 
operative Society, open to all students. It runs a General Goods 
Department, Food, Shoemaking, and Tailoring Departments. 


Aim.—Economic support of students, through Distribution of 
Food, Clothing, Fuel and Books, starting of Hostels, etc. 


Fees.—Kr. 9 per year. 
No. of Members.—8, 100. 
Sources of Income.—Fees, Sales, State Support, Foreign Help. 


General Effect of Conditions. 


1. The standard of intellectual work is bound to go down. A 
student who must earn his way through college, who starts under- 
nourished and in bad physical condition, after losing several years 
through the war, who has to study in rooms shared with other people, 
men, women and children, without heat and with very little light, 
has not much chance of doing good work. 


2. There is a marked increase of crime amongst the intellec- 
tuals, corresponding to the increase all round. In 1914 there were 
659 criminal cases dealt with in Vienna; in 1919 there were 13,631 ! 


a.) Many Students aré driven to despair;'there is a great 
increase of suicide amongst them, their only way of escape from an 
impossible situation. 


4. Very large numbers of students are leaving their courses 
unfinished, on account of economic conditions, and going into other 
forms of work, if they can possibly find them. 


B.—STUDENT NEEDS IN GERMANY. 


Number of Students in 22 Universities and Technical Colleges : -— 

Last Year, This Year, 

140,000 a 115,000 
The huge number is caused by pressing in of those, especially 
officers, whose studies were held up by war. The reduction is caused 
by warning’s issued from educational authorities, severe examination 
of students, and rejection of all those unlikely to be successful. 
Large numbers of students are leaving their courses unfinished and 


going into other work, and the number of matriculations is now half 
that in normal times. 


Increase in Student Expenses. 


1914 Expenses averaged Mk. 150; Minimum Expenses averaged 
Mk. 80-100. 


1920 Minimum Expenses average in Munich Mk. 600; *Breslau 
Mk. 414 (no allowance for light, heat or washing); Frankfurt 
Mk. 350 (starvation minimum); Charlottenburg Mk. 7co. 

*In Breslau, Students having less than Mk. 400 income = 65% of all 

students. 
Students having only Mk. 150 = 30% of all students. 
ie i he Mik. 100 -(or) less). ="'5% of all 
students. 


6 


Increase in Cost of Necessities. Typical cases. 
A. Charlottenburg. 


IgI4. 1920. 
Lodging smn x4 Mk. 20 per month. Mk. roo per month. 
Light fy Meihos ; ‘ee ZO F: 
Service a aN aC a Wier R ye US. + 
Heat areke 9 3 9 ” 50 9 
Dinner ve Tie 3 a HEAL Nao) ‘ 
All food er saBSO r EN 2OO * 
Drawing materials ,, 10 " B® " 
* Washing ary, A 3 7 Hoe aie P; 
Journeys ia ne he) AJ eel oO “f 
Fees a eer po ate) 


* Many used to send their washing home, but increased postage 
makes this impossible. Washing 1 collar costs Mk. 1.50. 


B. Karlsruhe Chemical Institute. 
Fees have increased 250% 


Books ,, . 450%—500% IQI4 1920 
Glass apparatus 1400% Pencils jin. sai Mikeo: 3 GeelVika eas 
Iron 1200% Drawing boards Mk.2.50 Mk. 60 
Asbestos IT000% Drawing paper Mk.o.60 Mk. 7 
Cost of food 500% 
OW11020.25 -COsteol man's suit ba i Wiles seekers) 

x; - shoesmme. iV ke OO 

* a small notebooks Mk. 2.50 


The Director of the Berlin Schéneberg Statistical Office reckons 
in April, 1920, that the cost of bare subsistance has increased 1,100%, 
Over pre-war cost. 


Purchasing power of the mark has decreased 1,000%, 1.e., 
Mk. 1.00 = 10 Pf. (pre-war). 


Incomes of Students’ families have in no case more than doubled 
or trebled. 70% of students come from middle and lower middle 
classes—the hardest hit. 


Estimate in different Universities of Students actually in serious 
need varies from 30% to 50%. 


Health Facts. 


Bonn.—Sickness insurance doubled owing to appalling amount 
of Tuberculosis among students. ‘‘ Crowds of students sent to Stu- 
dent Kitchens with Medical Certificates ordering nourishing food for 
them—practically impossible to supply them.’’ 


Frankfurt.—1914. 5% students under medical treatment. 


(6) 
1920. bo 9 ” ” oe) 
. 9 
‘* Increase due to under-nourishment.”’ 


Breslau.—1912-1913. 402 students treated University Hospital, 
2% for tuberculosis. 


1919-1920. 658 students treated University Hospital, 
14% for tuberculosis. 


‘‘ A well-nourished patient never seen. The students go 
down like ninepins under influenza.’’ 


Facts on Self Help. 


1. Students, before the war, were forbidden by law to do wage- 
earning work outside their studies, and it is still a punishable offence, 
though the penalties are not enforced. This causes students to con- 
ceal their occupations, and this makes the obtaining of statistics very 
difficult. Nevertheless, a statistical survey in Berlin showed that 
35—40% of the students were doing wage-earning work. 


Students are on record to-day as working at :— 


Teaching. Night watchmen. 

Clerical work. Night work in Factories. 
Literary work. (These two last much sought 
Proof reading. after, as their night then be- 
In factories. comes profitable). 

In Post Offices. Coal heavers. 

In mines. Builders’ labourers. 

On railways. Conductors (Street cars). 
Shovelling snow. Waiters. 

Pick and shovel work. Harvesters. 


As navvies (e.g., demolishing K6énigsberg fortifications). 


2 Work is as scarce as bread! There are 10 applicants for 
every place. Trades Unions dislike students entering the labour 
market; farm labourers object to students working at harvesting 
during the Vacation. In face of widespread unemployment (there 
were 20,000 unemployed in Frankfurt, August, 1920), it is difficult 
for students to get work. Medical students, owing to their longer 
hours, everywhere find wage-earning much more difficult than 
others. 


3. Work is exceedingly badly paid. 


At Bonn and Breslau students paid Mk. 1.00 per hour for teach- 
ing versus Mk. 1.50—3.00, pre-war price. 


An unskilled labourer can earn Mk. 200 per week. 


A student, by 35 hours’ office work, can earn Mk. 100 per week 
only. 


A minimum wage scheme has, however, been established in 
Berlin, and students are begged not to take less than Mk. 5 per hour 
for teaching; Mk. 4.50 per hour for manual labour; Mk. 3 per hour 
for ordinary office work. 


4. Students all over Germany and German Austria are 
organised into the Allgemeine Studentenausschiisse of the Deutsch- 
studentenschaft. These A. St. A., as they are called, care for the 
general economic interests of students, promoting kitchens and other 
co-operative schemes. 


The readiness of the German students to help each other is 
shown by a voluntary tax imposed by A. St. A. on all its members 
who have incomes over Mk. 4oo per month. Those having incomes 
over Mk. 4oo pay 2% into fund for poor students. Those over 


Mk. 500 pay 3%. 


8 


C.—_STUDENT NEED IN 


Numbers, 
Budapest.—University, 5,237 


students ; 
3,471 students; other Colleges, 2,000 students. 


HUNGARY. 


Technical College, 


N.B.—About 35% are refugee students from the Universities of 
Pozsony and Kolosvar, now in Czech and Roumanian_ territory 


respectively. 


Investigation. 


The following statistics have been compiled from 3,497 answers 
to a careful questionnaire. They apply to University students only, 
but are representative of others, and have been checked by personal 


investigation. 


Comparative Cost of Living, 1914 and 1919. 


IQI4. 
Flour 1 Kilogramme 
Fat 
Sugar 
Eegs... 
Wealwaisso. 
SOapieteibar 
SHURE eee 
Suit 


One pile of Wood. 


Food Facts. 


ae 
°20 
1°00 
-86 
“08 
1°20 
“40 
2°50 


80°00 
18 00 


TO 20pm lel 
10°gO 
I20°00 
56°00 
B20 
go 
38°00 
400.00 
2500— 5000 
1600°00 


Amongst students answering the questionnaire there were found 


to™bez— 


Students eating only one meal per diem 


; », two meals 


Clothing Facts. 


Fed 


2.4% 
23-4% 


Amongst students answering the questionnaire there were found 


to be :— 

Students owning two suits ASA), 
+ - one suit 2A ATs 
Pm _ no full suit epee 
5 A no overcoat isp els 
7 . two shirts ... 137, 
: “ one shirt only 1.8% 
Me f no shirt hie ne 252%, 
. rr three pairs of stockings only... 16% 
29 9 two oe) ” 13% 
” re) one 9 ” 8% 
$ oi no stockings Fe Ga 


N.B.—One pair of stockings costs Kr. 300 


daily meal for one month. 


the price of chief 





Health Facts. 


1914. 69% of students treated in University Hospital. 
1g20. 19% ” ” re) ” 


N.B.—Rapid spread of tuberculosis and venereal diseases. 


Minimum Expenses of a Student per Month. 


Food (two meals per diem) = Kr. 600 
TROOI ge oe bbe de etoO 
Laundry ... _ Se ee i 64. 
Baths and soap ... ye ie . 50 
Repairs ... mre 3 50 
Fees and materials for study ie Be eis 

Total Pe Keto 32 





N.B.—This includes nothing for new clothes. 


Compare this with Average Earnings possible for Students, viz. 
Kr. 620. 


Income of families of Students. 


State salaries of all kinds of officials have been levelled to 
Kr. 1,500 per month. 


Percentage of children of state officials amongst all students 34% 
, Ag Fs art and 

philosophy students Mert 590 

¥ amongst all students, Brenden of State ene ionersné 62% 


N.B.—State Pensions have not been raised since the war. 


Self Help Facts. 


Amongst 3,497 students. 


Students receiving no support from family _... eee O37, 
Students who are wage earning we a ae Ale z 0 


N.B—Among wage-earning students 46% have parents or rela- 
tives dependent on them. 

Answers to questionnaire show that the vast majority of students 
who are not wage-earning are seeking work but cannot find it. 

Transylvanian Refugee Students formed Society of 900 mem- 
bers for mutual help; they obtained 178 bags of wool from American 
Relief. The technical students worked it up into 250 metres of cloth 
for their members. 

Women students, members of Women Students Christian 
Union, started a mending scheme, collected men students’ clothes 
and mended them for small fee; continued this till material and 
sewing cotton no longer available. 

A number of women students are working under American 
Relief in organising, after a short course of training, children’s 
meals. 


Io 


Facts Aggravating Situation of Hungarian Students. 


1. Long periods of war service retarding students. 


Stucents having served over 5 years on 6% 
” 9) ” re) 4 5 tee Looe 
39 99 ” ” 3 ” wee 14% 
9 ” ” 9 2 9 eee ya 
: 3 », less than = 19% 


2. Reduction of Hungarian territory by two-thirds under Peace 
Treaty. Doubling of population of Budapest during war, involving 
terrible overcrowding. Enormous numbers of refugees are living 
in the railway vans they arrived in. 


3. War and successive revolutions, and foreign occupations. 


4. Statistics given are certainly an underestimate of need, as 
many of the students are ashamed to state their need; the most needy 
and suffering are those who have been forced to abandon their studies 
and therefore do not figure in statistics. 


5. N.B.—These statistics were collected in May, 1920. At 
the date of writing, September, 1920, word comes from Hungary 
that all prices have risen considerably since May. 


STUDENT NEEDS IN POLAND. 


Total Number of Students—25,000. (Numbers uncertain owing 
to military fluctuations.) 


Universities—6. 2 old, Krakow, Lvoff (Lemberg); 4 newly 
established, Warsaw Wilno, Lublin, and Poznany (Posen). 


1. Housing Facts. 


The Housing difficulty is acute; students are reduced to sleeping 
in waiting rooms, on staircases, etc. Room in slums of Warsaw 
(without heat or attendance) costs Mk. 300—Mk. 500 per month, and 
will be shared by 4 or 5 students. 

The available hostels accommodate only one-thirtieth to one- 
fiftieth of the students. These Hostels were, without exception, 
occupied by Austrian or Russian soldiers during the war, and all 
bedding, kitchen utensils, fittings and furniture have been removed 
or destroyed. 

A typical Men’s Hostel in Warsaw contains 63 rooms, and 250 
students; there are only 183 bedsteads, 133 bedcovers, 122 pillow- 
cases, 124 sheets, 10 towels, and a few kitchen utensils; no washing 
utensils, no bookshelves. 


2. Clothing Facts. 
Man’s suit costs Mk. 4,000. 
A Pair of Shoes costs Mk. 1,000. 
Students are practically without underclothing. 


Women are in worse case than men, as majority of men are 
still wearing uniform. 


II 


Stockings, socks and shoes urgently needed. 


Combs and soap are prohibitive, as a comb costs Mk. 60, bad 
Polish soap costs Mk. 60 a kg., and Sunlight soap Mk. 120 a kg. 


The soap famine is exceedingly serious, owing to the prevalence 
of typhus, a lice-carried disease. 


A certain amount of food is supplied by the Government to the 
students in the Army, as most of them are just now. At present the 
women students suffer worse than the men from lack of food and 
clothing, but when demobilisation takes place, and the men return to 
the universities, there will probably be a famine both of food and 
clothes, which will affect the men even worse than the women. 


In Krakow it is reckoned, by a representative student organisa- 
tion, that out of the 5,000 students in the University, Mining School, 
Engineering School, Commercial Academy and Academy of Arts, 
1,500 at least are in real destitution. Of these, 375 are women, 
1,125 men. 


Self Help. 


1. Even in normal times students are usually self-supporting and 
receive no assistance from their parents. They must teach or work 
in offices at least 3 hours daily, and at present many work a larger 
number of hours. 

2. Polish students have a genius for co-operation, and in each 
university are organised one or more Students’ Unions, whose object 
is the economic welfare of the student. These Unions run Hostels, 
Restaurants, Food and Clothing Distribution schemes. 

3. A student’s average earnings are Mk. 500, in no way in 
proportion to increase in cost of living. Highest salary of a professor 
Mk. 6,o0o0o—lowest, Mk. 1,200. 

4. Poland needs her students, and needs them to finish their 
courses as early as possible. There is a terrible shortage of doctors. 
In Galician Poland there is only one doctor to every 150,000 
inhabitants, and since the typhus epidemic began, 46 doctors in that 
region have died of typhus. 


This leaflet is intended for the use of National Student 
Movements and Committees engaged in Student Relief work. It 
is meant to serve as a basis for the production of national 
Student Relief literature, rather than for general distribution. 


WORLD'S STUDENT CHRISTIAN FEDERATION 
EUROPEAN STUDENT RELIEF. 


JOHN R. MOTT, CONRAD HOFFMANN, RUTH ROUSE, 
Chairman, Executive Secretary, Publicity Secretary, 
347. Madison Avenue, 3 rue General Dufour, 28, Lancaster Road, 


New York City, Geneva, Switzerland. Wimbledon, London, $.W.19. 


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